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35 Shots of Rum DVD

This has been Claire Denis' most successful film since 'Beau Travail'.

Time and romantic attraction threaten to sour a family relationship in this drama from writer and director Claire Denis. Lionel (Alex Descas) is a middle-aged widower who makes his living driving a train and shares an apartment with his twenty-something daughter Josephine (Mati Diop). Lionel and Josephine have a warm and caring relationship, and while it's not Lionel's nature to say very much, his affection for his daughter is clear. Lionel's on-and-off girlfriend Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue) and their footloose friend Noe (Gregoire Colin) live in the same building, and together the four have fallen into a casual family relationship.

However, when's Lionel's close friend and fellow driver Rene (Julieth Mars Toussaint) announces he's retiring, Lionel becomes painfully aware that he's not as young as he once was, and realizes how much he depends on his daughter. This knowledge sets Lionel on edge when Jospehine's friendship with Noe begins to evolve into a romantic relationship, while she is angered when she spies her father flirting with an attractive woman who runs a nearby diner.

Outstanding ensemble acting from all the cast allows Denis to focus on her characters' shifting moods and relationships with the subtlety and fluency that only a great film-maker can supply.